Electronic cameras, video cameras, and related image capture devices have become popular in recent years as prices steadily drop and miniaturization facilitates incorporating such devices in small hand-held electronics. This is at least in part due to the rapid advancements in electronics technology, reducing the cost of these devices and greatly enhancing their technical features. The combination of drastically reduced cost and greatly increased utility has driven consumer demand to unparalleled levels, making these devices very common among the general consumer population.
Multiple technological advancements have specifically facilitated integration of image capture components into consumer electronics. First, improvements in semiconductor technology enable processor and memory chips to become increasingly smaller for a given number of transistors. Ongoing research and development in transistor miniaturization have enabled electronics to shrink in size generally, including consumer electronics and related optical electronic components. Second, miniaturization of optical components including lenses and image sensors has enabled fabrication of these components at a fraction of their volume just a decade ago. While large optical lenses have traditionally been a constraint on the size of video capture devices, this is decreasingly the case, particularly with fixed focus optical devices. Third, digitization of image capture and storage technology has enabled a transition away from film media and toward digital storage media. Modern digital storage media, such as a micro flash chip, can hold many thousands of pictures, feature-length video, and more, on a small flat memory chip that can be plugged into a cell phone, or other hand-held electronic device.
While there has been great technological advancement in optical devices generally, image capture and image processing have observed very profound advancements in particular. For instance, digitization of image capture technology has facilitated great advancements in camera and video recording electronics. Digital image sensors generally comprise a two-dimensional grid of light-sensitive electronic pixels, which can detect varying levels of light energy, varying wavelengths of light, and other optical characteristics. Light incident upon a digital image sensor can be captured by the grid of pixels and, because respective pixels are sensitive to variations in light energy and wavelength, spatial variations in brightness, contrast and even color over the two-dimensional grid can be captured. When coupled with a suitably positioned optical lens, the incident light can form an image that is projected onto and captured by the digital image sensor. The sensor can then output image data for storage, data processing, image processing, or the like.
High speed image processing involves sophisticated hardware, including processors and memory, as well as higher clock speeds. These characteristics extend to the image sensor, which captures and outputs image information at a rate at least equal to the video frame rate, as well as the image processing electronics, which convert the output image information into a usable form for graphical display at similar rates. A general characteristic of modern electronics is that faster signal processing, particularly analog signal processing, consumes more electrical power. In addition, as image capture devices transition to high definition imaging, the graphical resolutions increase greatly. Increased resolution involves the capture and processing of more information than low resolution systems, further increasing power consumption. Digital electronics, on the other hand, can often reduce power consumption and increase processing speeds, providing advantages over analog devices for various applications.
Technological advancements in high-speed image processing equipment are generally coordinated to meet evolving consumer demand in the consumer electronics industry. Although innovation is typically directed to providing new technology, including software applications, device processing speed, memory capabilities, and the like, little leeway is given for reduction in quality. Yet high turnover in new designs has shown to impact quality control. Testing equipment and related processes are often designed to mitigate the impact to device quality that can result from an intense focus on new product innovation. For instance, suitable testing equipment can help to identify problems in design, manufacture, and other segments of production, and can be a significant part of quality control for electronic devices in general, and opto-electronic devices in particular. Quality control therefore fills a significant role in meeting consumer demand and satisfying consumer expectation.